Bexar County Sheriff's Office initiates program to...

1of10Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar addresses the media about the office's new Community and Internal Liaison Program which is intended to ease cultural and communication barriers between the sheriff's office and the community.Photo: S. M. Chavey / San Antonio Express-News

3of10An unidentified arsonist lit a Houston area mosque on fire in July 2018 using an unknown ignitable liquid. The Harris County Fire Marshal's Office said it was working with federal agencies to determine whether the fire was a hate crime.
Read more: Arsonist strikes at Cloverleaf mosquePhoto: Samantha Ketterer

4of10In July 2018, a 26-year-old man accused of lighting a Victoria mosque on fire in 2017 was found guilty of arson and commission of a hate crime. He faces up to 40 years in prison.
Read more: Man accused of setting Victoria mosque fire found guiltyPhoto: Barclay Fernandez, MBR / Associated Press

5of10In July 2018, a North Texas man pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges after he terrorized a black family in 2017 by hanging a baby doll from a noose near their residence.
Read more: North Texas man pleads guilty to federal hate crime Photo: Grapevine Police Department

8of10A suspected member of the Aryan Brother and Harris County man was charged with a hate crime in May 2017 after allegedly shouting racial slurs and trying to stab his black neighbor. According to prosecutors, prior to the attack he was quoted saying "I hate n------ and I'm gonna kill me one today."
Read more: Suspected member of Aryan Brotherhood arrested for hate crimePhoto: Harris County Sheriff's Office

9of10In October 2016, two East Texas men were charged with felony assault with hate-crime enhancements after police said they beat a Sikh man and sheared his hair. Prosecutors said the victim was left with nerve damage, a black eye, broken teeth and an injured pinky finger that required amputation.
Read more: Texas men charged with hate-crime assault on Sikh man in RichmondPhoto: Richmond Police Department

In an ongoing effort to improve its relationship with San Antonio-area residents, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office announced a new program Monday that officials hope will help ease cultural barriers and prevent miscommunication.

Twelve deputies from various departments volunteered to work as community liaisons, helping represent segments of the population that "sometimes can be marginalized," according to Sheriff Javier Salazar, while also recruiting new deputies from those segments.

"In law enforcement, it is always a good thing when the agency can say that they're connected to the community they serve," Salazar said. "It's a whole other thing to be able to say you're intimately involved and you've got a working, two-way mutually-beneficial relationship with as many segments of the population as you can. We're making strides in that respect."

Deputies involved in the program will serve as translators of both language and culture and will have the authority to call a "town hall" type meeting to explain American laws to their communities, if they feel it necessary, Salazar said.

The 12 deputies will also maintain their regular positions with the agency, and Salazar said he could imagine the program eventually doubling in size, increasing both the number of liaisons per community and the number of communities represented.

The idea for the program came a few months ago, when the sheriff's office was investigating an incident within the Muslim community, where a suspect was using arranged marriage as a front to sell his daughter, Salazar said. Salazar was invited to a local mosque to learn more.

"It was almost as if they felt the need to apologize on behalf of their community for the actions of this one suspect," Salazar said.

Though he recognized the difference between arranged marriage and the suspect's behavior, Salazar said the investigation helped him realize how beneficial a liaison could be. He asked the mosque attendees if any were interested in volunteering, and a deputy, who happened to be a member of the mosque, stepped forward.

After that, he put out a call to the rest of the deputies, and the Community and Internal Liaison Program was born.

"We want to make sure they also have someone they can relate to here," LGBT Community Liaison Stephanie Flores said.

Liaisons will get involved in investigations as early as practical and possible, Salazar said. He said he also hopes they will recruit enough deputies from their respective populations so that the diversity of the sheriff's office accurately reflects the diversity of the city.

"I wanted to bridge that gap between law enforcement and community," Indian Community Liaison Abraham Abrahams said. "I take this as an opportunity to really help my community."